


I'll Find You

by nicetomeetmew



Series: The Wild Lost in Darkness [2]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Big Brother Twi's search party 2k20, BotW2 speculation, Breath of the Wild Sequel Trailer, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tags will be added, Time is Dad, i'm going to seriously bend canon I'm sorry, not beta read we die like heroes dragged from our found family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicetomeetmew/pseuds/nicetomeetmew
Summary: Twilight is desperate to find Wild, unware of the darkness that looms under the kingdom of Hyrule.Or: what happens if Wild doesn't leave the group willingly for the events of BotW 2 - part 2.--No longer on hiatus but will probably not be updated regularly (sorry!)--
Relationships: Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: The Wild Lost in Darkness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813396
Comments: 23
Kudos: 212





	1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins...
> 
> This is just a short little intro. The next chapter will be the start of the big stuff hehe. I hope you enjoy!

It was dark. There was nothing but absolute darkness surrounding him.

Where was he? Who was he? He tried to think, desperately trying to remember his name and what had happened to him. But something stopped him. Pain. It burned through the skin of his legs and arms. It hurt so much.

And then there was light. It was bright, golden, warm. It filled the darkness, wrapping itself around him in a protective embrace. The pain that dug into him faded away, the light soothing his wounds.

As the light fizzled away, he was once again left in darkness. But this time it was different. He wasn't alone.

"...ink..."

A voice. A soft, beautiful voice filtered into his consciousness. She was begging him. She sounded sad. Why?

"...ake up Link."

Link? That was his name wasn't it? But no one had called him that in a long time. What had they called him?

"Link, please. Open your eyes," the voice pleaded. Link tried with all his might to force his way out of the darkness. He felt a tug, something trying to pull him out of the haze. A pinprick of light flashed in front of him. Hesitantly, he reached for it. It was so warm.

_...are you, Cub?_

Link stopped. Another voice? As the pinprick of light began to grow, he found himself looking for the source of the other voice. It was so faint, he almost wondered if he'd imagined it.

_I will find you, Cub..._

This time is was louder. Link realised he wasn't hearing the words so much as he was feeling them. They resonated throughout him, the speaker a man with a deep, comforting voice. Who was he? Why was it so familiar?

"Wake up, Link."

The light was getting bigger, brighter. It surrounded him, lifting him out of the darkness. As the darkness faded away completely and Link finally found the strength to open his eyes, he heard the other voice one last time.

_...I promise._

* * *

Twilight darted through the trees, his nose lowered to the ground, searching for something, anything that would point him in the direction of Wild. The shining full moon was his only guide besides his heightened eyesight, and he just knew that Time would be waiting back at camp for him with that disappointed glare of his.

He huffed, pausing to shake the night air from his fur before carrying on, deeper and deeper into the woods.

As the night wore on, Twilight felt more and more hopeless. It had been a week. A full week of searching every forest, every cave, every single nook and cranny, and they had found nothing. Why would this time be any different? With a defeated sigh, Twilight sat down heavily on the forest floor, changing back to his Hylian form.

Slowly, he reached into his pocket, pulling out that soft scrap of black fabric. He clutched it tightly, bringing it up to his chest. It was all he had left of him.

_What happened to you? Where are you?_

He stared up at the silvery surface of the moon, whispering worthless promise after worthless promise into the stars, like he did every night. Wearily, he dropped his head into his hand, tears burning threateningly at the back of his eyes. He stubbornly wiped them away. He wouldn't cry. He was going to find Wild. He had to.

* * *

As expected, Time was still up when Twilight returned to the campsite. The elder hero didn't look up from the dying embers of the fire as the wolf crept out of the shadows. He said nothing as Twilight shifted back once more and silently made his way towards his bedroll.

"Pup."

Twilight looked up to see his mentor watching him carefully, an unreadable expression on his face. The two simply stared at each other for a moment before Time suddenly stood, walking over to him, gripping him firmly yet gently by the shoulders.

"I promise you we'll find him," he said, his voice steady and sure. Twilight wavered, a desire to suddenly through his arms around the older man building up inside him. Instead, he firmly pushed it down, pulling himself free and offering him a small, fake smile.

"I know."

As Twilight made to get into his bedroll, Time called him back once more.

"But you can't keep doing this."

Twilight stiffened, looking back up at the other.

"You can't keep wondering off on your own."

Clenching his fists, Twilight rose to meet at Time's eye. Before he could say anything, Time continued.

"We're all worried, Pup and we're all going to do our best to find him. You're not on your own in this."

The pelt-clad hero let out a shuddering breath, looking down at his boots. "I'm supposed to protect him," he whispered. "I'm supposed to protect him, and I let goddess-knows-what happen to him."

Before he knew what was happening, Time suddenly pulled him forward, wrapping him in an embrace. Twilight stood there, stunned, as his mentor held him tightly.

"This is not your fault, Pup," he murmured, gently rubbing his back. At his kind tone, something in Twilight broke. The young man suddenly hugged Time back, burying his face into his shoulder.

"I need to find him, Time. I have to," he sobbed, his voice muffled by the elder's shirt.

"We will. We won't stop until we do."


	2. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight sees Wild again, though not in the way he hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE BACK BABY!
> 
> Ahem. Okay so I can't promise that this fic is going to return to regular updates but I got suddenly inspired so it's at least got one new chapter! And it's longer than last time AND stuff actually happens as promised. Hopefully, I won't wait over 7 months to update again (I am really sorry by the way).
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> TW: body horror - but it's mild and brief.

He was surrounded by darkness. Pitch black wrapped itself uncomfortably around him making it impossible to even tell if his eyes were open. He turned in a slow circle, searching for any source of light, close to giving up when something flashed by his eye. He whipped round just in time to see a strange wisp of glowing green dissolving into thin air. He stared bemusedly at the spot as another wisp floated by. And then another. And another. He stood, transfixed as the wisps drifted around him, casting a gentle green glow as they brushed against his skin, each touch sending a bizarre shiver down his spine. A shiver that he often associated with fear.

_“…ilight…”_

His ear flicked. He spun around, wisps shifting at his movement.

_“…Twi…light…”_

A voice. A barely audible, yet painfully familiar voice. His heart twinged at the sound of it.

“Cub?” he whispered into the darkness.

“ _Twi… h…elp…”_

“Wild?” he tried, urgency creeping into his tone.

“ _Help… me…”_

Fear pooling inside him, Twilight took a step forward, in the direction he prayed his protégé’s voice was coming from.

“…help me…”

There it was, louder then before. Throwing all caution to the wind, Twilight broke into a run. The wisps that were floating lazily around him, trembled violently as he moved, more and more of them materialising with every hurried step he took.

“…hel…p…”

“Wild!” Twilight yelled desperately, stumbling as his legs struggled to keep up with him. The wisps began to appear faster, the green glow intensifying, its slight fearful presence intensifying. Twilight forced himself forward, pushing himself until, just in the distance, he saw…

“ _Wild!_ ”

The figure before him flinched at his voice, slowly turning around. Twilight crashed to a halt, his heart seizing in panic. Wild stared back at him, face blank. A sickly substance of black and red creeped up the left side of his face, twisting gruesomely with his scars. And his eyes… they glowed bright green, his pupils vanishing into his irises.

“T…wi…” he gasped, pain flashing briefly across his face. Twilight broke out of his horrified stupor, starting forward again when something wrapped tightly around his wrist, yanking him backwards. He tried to wrench away, spinning round to try see his captor. A thin tendril of deep red wrapped itself tightly around his arm, burning into his skin. He cursed, reaching for his sword, when another one appeared out of nowhere, snapping around his free arm. Twilight strained against them, hissing in pain as the tightened with every movement. He glanced desperately back at Wild, wincing as he saw even more of the black and red spreading across his face, the green in his left eye now completely replaced by a deep void.

“…h..elp… me…” Wild whispered, reaching a trembling hand towards him. Twilight growled in frustration, fighting with all his strength against the seemingly impenetrable forces battling against him. A third tendril darted at him, wrapping itself firmly around him. Then a fourth, and a fifth. To Twilight’s horror, they started pulling him backwards, dragging him away from his protégé. He tore against them fiercely, reaching back to Wild, begging anyone who would listen to give him enough strength. He was so close. He had to reach him.

“Twi...light.”

“Cub!” Twilight screamed, watching helplessly as he began to disappear. As he was dragged back, the green wisps returned, this time painfully blinding.

“Twilight.”

“Cub…” he whispered, defeatedly surrendering the tendrils rapidly pulling him away.

“Twilight!”

Wait. That wasn’t Wild. It sounded like…

“TWILIGHT!”

The ranch-hand jolted awake, bolting upright, gasping for breath. He looked up sharply as a gentle hand came down on his shoulder. Time was kneeling next to him, worry filling his face. He looked around finding the other heroes scattered around their camp for the night, many of them doing a terrible job of disguising their concern and confusion.

There was no darkness, no green wisps, no red and black, no Wild. He glanced away, burying his head in his hands, trying to still his trembling shoulders. Time soothing rubbed his back, waiting patiently for him to raise his head once more.

“Are you alright?” his mentor asked lowly, fixing him with a look that meant he wasn’t going to believe “yes”.

“It was just a dream,” he muttered in reply, half to himself. He ran a shaking hand through his damp hair, drawing a deep breath. “It was just a dream,” he said again, turning to look at Time.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Ignoring Time’s worried eyes on him, Twilight pulled himself out of his bedroll, trying to erase the image of Wild’s pain-ridden face from his mind. What if it meant something? It would hardly be the first time any of them had had a prophetic dream.

As he pulled on his chainmail and tunic, blatantly ignoring the pitiful looks Sky was sending him for nearby, he idly wondered if he could get away with running off on another solo search of his own. But he instantly dismissed the thought. Time had all but forbidden him from going off alone a few nights before. He knew it was safer searching with the others, and with more people they’d have a better chance. But something in him begged him to just do it. He had to find him. He _had_ to.

“Hey.”

Pulled from his thoughts, Twilight looked up, finding Legend looking down at him, a serious expression masking his face. Even so, Twilight could see the dark circles framing his uneasy eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Legend scoffed, rolling his eyes, looking like himself again for a fleeting moment.

“Pretty sure that’s what I’m meant to asked you, dumbass.” His concerned look returned as quickly as it had vanished. “So?”

Twilight shrugged, going back to fastening his belt. He got to his feet, ignoring the fiery gaze Legend was burning into his skull.

“I’m fine.”

“Sure. And Warriors’ has great hair.”

“I _do_ have great hair,” the captain’s voice interjected, glaring at him from a few feet away. His face quickly melted into a sympathetic frown. “But he’s right. You’re clearly not fine. Don’t bottle it up.”

Twilight forced down a sigh. They meant well, he knew that. But he didn’t want their pity. He needed them to help him find Wild. However, that didn’t warrant him getting angry with them. Instead, he dredged up a small smile.

“I won’t,” he reassured them, striding off before he could see them share worried looks.

* * *

The air of concern for the ranch-hand didn’t wear off. Twilight could feel it hanging heavily around him; the constant side glanced did not improve matters.

He trudged along, sandwiched between Time and Warriors and what, while they didn’t say anything, he knew to be a manoeuvre to keep him from running off. He could help but feel a stab of irritation at them. They both knew how important Wild was to him, Time especially. Warriors didn’t know about his ability, but Time did, and the ranch-hand couldn’t help but feel like his mentor didn’t trust him enough.

Suppressing yet another sigh, he walked on, his eyes scanning every tree, every bush, every rock, searching for a flash of blue and blond or _anything_. His nose and ear twitched as he tried to tune his heightened senses to the forest around them, but the smell of the many others around him overpowered anything else and all he could hear was the rustling of clothes, clinking of armour, and the chirps and chatters of birds enjoying the beautiful day. He reluctantly ceases his efforts as Warriors shot him a strange look, watching his nose quiver in bemusement.

With nothing else to accompany his thoughts, the unwelcome image of Wild’s twisted face crept back into his head, appearing every time he screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out.

“You doing okay, Pup?” Time voice said suddenly. Twilight felt a wave of relief as the distraction knocked the horrible image away once more.

“Yeah,” he murmured, running a weary hand across his forehead. “I’m just… tired.”

It wasn’t necessarily a lie. The combination of late-night searches of the last nine days, accompanied by the harrowing nightmare had left him drained and pretty much exhausted. He was reluctant to admit it, especially to Time. The eldest hero wasn’t stupid; Twilight was sure he knew that he knew his protégé was tired, but if he knew just how tired the rancher was, he was convinced he would cut down the amount of time they spent searching. They couldn’t afford that.

Wild was a hero. In fact, he was a very capable hero. But he was often unbelievably fearless and reckless and now he was alone.

_He was alone before. He managed,_ a little voice in the back of his mind told him.

Twilight frowned. That was true. He had survived plenty of time on his own. But…

His mind flashed back to the scream, the scrap of cloth, the scream. And then that nightmare.

No.

Wild was in trouble. He knew it. He could feel it. And he was going to find him if it was the last thing he did.

“Uh… guys?”

Twilight looked up, startled by the voice of Wind, who had been heading the group and was now standing stock still, staring in horror at something off the path. Cold foreboding taking hold of him, Twilight hurried to the sailor’s side, biting back a curse as he the absolute worst thing that could’ve appeared.

A gate.

It swirled menacingly before them, almost threatening them to enter.

“…this is bad right?” Wind continued, biting his lip as he stared uncertainly at the portal. No one replied, letting an uncomfortable silence fall.

“We can’t go through it,” Twilight said eventually, glaring as several incredulous pairs of eyes turned on him. “We have to find Wild. If we go through there…” He trailed off, shaking another wave of horrible thoughts from his head. “We have to stay.”

“You’re kidding right?” Legend spoke up, staring at him with a firm look Twilight had never seen him give before. “The whole reason we’re on this journey is to defeat the shadow. And in case it slipped your mind, he’s the one who creates them.”

“Maybe not this time,” Four spoke up, staring intently at the gate, his eyes flashing bright purple. “Look at the colour. The gates are usually black and purple.”

Everyone looked once more at the portal to see that the smith had spoken the truth. The gate was a swirling mess of black, deep red and pink. And to Twilight, it looked terribly familiar.

The nightmare flashed before his eyes once more; the substance creeping along Wild’s face, the black and red tendrils tearing him away from his cub. And ice-cold pool of dread filled his stomach as his mind forced to face the awful, probable truth.

If this portal and the images from his dream were truly one and the same, it was incredibly likely that the gate could hold and answer to Wild’s disappearance.

But if they were wrong…

A million horrible possibilities of what could happen to Wild if he ended up trapped in their current location rushed through his head, each one worse than the last. He pressed his fist hard against his head, trying to make it stop, as the others continued to figure out a plan.

Eventually, he lowered his hand, meeting eyes with Time, who was watching him carefully.

“You… you’re right,” he said finally, glancing at Legend. A surprised look flashed across the veteran’s features before he gave a short nod. “We have a duty; we need to fulfil it.”

“But what if Wild is still here?” Sky questioned, looking torn. Twilight fell silent, watching the intimidating swirl of the portal.

“I don’t think he is.”

“But you were just-”

“I know. But… something is off. Wild vanishing and now a gate we never seen before. Legend is right we can’t ignore it.”

He glanced back at his mentor who shot him a tiny, proud smile, before stepping forward.

“That settles it,” he said firmly, looking around at them all, seeing if anyone would object. Satisfied when no one did, he turned, making his way cautiously towards the portal. The others followed suit, Wind falling into step beside Twilight.

“Maybe… Wild will be wherever we end up?” he suggested hopefully. Twilight smiled slightly at his optimism.

“Maybe he is,” he agreed. But, as the heroes vanished one by one into the swirling void, he felt nothing be hopelessness and fear. He hesitantly stepped forward, letting the mess of dark magic claim him, his last coherent thought praying the sailor was right before the darkness claimed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: write your fics in comic sans. It's like magic. I haven't been inspired to write anything bar one fic in about 2 months then I saw this post on instagram suggesting that comic sans helps with inspiration and writing speed so I tried it for shits and giggles and jesus christ. MAGIC I TELL YOU. I still hate comic sans though.
> 
> Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this fic's apparent revival! I'm curious as to what you guys think is going on so feel free to share your thoughts/theories; your comments bring me life and are such a joy to read. Until the next time <3

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I know this isn't much but the rest should longer and better than this hehe. Even so, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Comments/constructive critism are always appreciated :)


End file.
